Sunday 9/14
A fairly uneventful day. Aviel and I cleaned a lot to get ready for the Mifgash Dira the next day. It was difficult to get the rest of the roommates to help. I'm pretty sure I stayed in that night.
Monday 9/15
Volunteered at the matnas in the morning and went to ulpan in the afternoon. At around six our madricha Yaara came to our apartment to do the weekly check (Mifgash Dira). She said it wasn't clean enough. I'm not going to get into how I disagree with that, anyways, she gave us an hour to clean and she would be back. Realizing we had no food at all, the six of us in the apartment split into two groups: three of us would stay and clean, the other three would go to the store and get food. I am in charge of the debit card for the apartment, so I went shopping. We ended up getting about 550 skekel worth of food ($157). Yaara came back to check again and was a little upset when she came back and only found half of us in the apartment.
We got back from shopping and I had about fourty-five minutes to shove food in my mouth and head out the door for the a siyur.
This siyur was really cool. We left Holon at about nine and drove south into the Negev. We spent a few hours of the night hiking under the full moon. The location of the hike was Nachal Havarim. The Negev is grorgous, but even more intense under a full moon. At one point we got to a dried river bed, more of a slim canyon, and we each hiked through it individually. It was almost errie how the rocks were smooth with all kinds of curves. It was unbelivable. We finished the hike around 3:30 A.M. and got back to holon around 5.
Tuesday 9/16
Since we got back so late/early last night, I slept in until about 11. It was nice and refreshing. I spent most of the day hanging out and getting some much needed relaxtion.
The day before my friend Or had given me a call with an offer I couldn't resist. Or is one of the seven Tzofim (Israeli Scouts) living with us in the Holon. Normally, since they are 18, they would be going into the IDF. Or and the seven other Tzofim, Aviel my roommate is one as well, are doing what is called Shnat Sherut (Service Year). Back to the offer Or made me. Or and I had spent a good part of the hike the night before talking about the difference between Boy Scouts in America and the Tzofim. He said I would really have to experiance it to understand the Tzofim. Thus, he invited me to the first Peulah (program) of his Shevet (tribe) in Tel Aviv.
It was like nothing I had every seen!
The name of the Shevet is Horesh. They are one of the oldest Shevetim in all of Israel. They are located in the central park of Tel Aviv. I had actually seen their building two years ago when I stayed across the street at the Munich Youth Hostel. I had no clue what that strange fenced off green building was then.
There were a total of 610 scouts there! That is more than the amount of people that go to national YJ conventions. The ages go from 4th-12th grade. In the Tzofim, as you enter into High School you start to become the leaders of the Shevet. Just like Young Judaea, Tzofim is peer lead. My friend Or was director of Horesh his senior year of High School. He was discribing to me how it was his entire life last year.
This was one of the many paintings on the buildings in the Horesh complex. Ten points to anyone who knows why I think this one is so funny.
This is me and my friend Or standing in front a large structure built by the shevet.
I thought I would get a picture with one of the scouts there.1) CO-ED: The only scouting left in the world to not be both boys and girls in one group is the American scouts. Co-ed scouting is a great way of getting people to keep coming back. I know its primative, but it also creates a very good social life. Most of Or's closest friends are those from his Shevet. I believe his last girlfriend was even from his shevet. When we were at the peulah what seemed like hundreds of people came up to Or to say hello and give him a hug.
2) Regularity: Most shevetim meet twice a week. This creates a constant vibe of Scouting and also goes along with the previous point.
3) Facilities and Funding: Most tribes have the one facilities. This way they are selfsustaining. They raise money with a snack bar they keep open before and after every peulah, they also collect cans and bottles to earn money through recycling, and the goverment of Israel provides some funding.
4) Pride: Each shevet has unique name (not number), mascot, and logo. Along with all of this they have crazy cheers. Dozens of them. When all of the tribes gather once a year in the summer a little competition begins. All of the things mentioned go right in to the pride each member has for his or her tribe. At the gathering each shevet builds ridiculous structures made out lumber that has been lashed together. Each shevet has a different theme. Horesh has been known to be one of the best builders in the nation.
The ideals behind the Tzofim are very similar to those of YJ. Peer Leadership, Zionism, Democracy, just to name a few. I really wished I had been a part of the Tzofim. It is the perfect mix of the outdoor scouting and Israel. Two things I care deeply about.
At around 7 Or and I left with his friend from the tribe to get some dinner. Or's friend works at and ice cream place. Guess what I had for dinner? About a half liter of FREE ICE CREAM!
We then some how manged to get out of our chairs and meet a the group from YC at a jazz club. I was really excited to see some jazz, turns out it was a rock band that just covered a bunch of american music. It was fun, but I could have done that in the states. I was a tad dissapointed.
One of the YC boys got up on stage and sang along.Wednesday 9/17
Volunteering went as usual. The kids are cute and entertaining, my hebrew improves, and I get fed :)
That night I went to Young Judaea was given 1000 free tickets to the Israel vs. Chek Republic basketball game. It was fun to cheer them on and get into it. I actually went down at the last quarter and sat with the hardcore fans. I also met up with my friends Allon, who I have mentioned earlier in this blog, and Nir. They both are madrichim for Year Course and all of us were madrichim at camp this summer.
The usual large group of us left the game and headed for the harbor in Tel Aviv. The harbor sits in the norther part of the city, and for some reason, things are way overpriced. I was looking around for an hour and half trying to find a cheap place to eat. Never found one. I dropped way too much money on dinner that night.
Allon called me a little after dinner. He picked me up and we went and hung out in Tel Aviv for a little bit.
Thursday 9/18
Volunteering and Ulpan. In ulpan we are basically learning vocab. Its tiring, but I'm getting it.
Aviel's birthday was actually on Friday, but since I was leaving and the party was that night we through him a little surprise. The other Tzofim told him to be ready to leave at 8:30. As he got in the shower I ran down the street and bought a couple of cakes. Scott and Jordan kept him distracted once he was out of the shower. As I was walking up the stairs to the apartment Aviel called me and I hung up. I busted open that door and we all sang Yom Huledetz. About ten minutes later all of the Tzofim came with another cake. It was good timing.
Besides Aviel, there were a few other birthdays in our section. Naturally we had to celebrate. Tel Aviv (that is her name, she is one of the Tzofim) has hook ups all over the city of Tel Aviv. She had a deal worked out with this club called Stella's. We got there and the place was PACKED. Myself and about 50 other Year Course boys had to wait about an hour before we were let in. Girls always get in, and for free.
I cheated this system and got in free...
My friend Jesse had just came out of the club to say hello to the suckers, like me, out there waiting. He had just gotten his arm marked so he could get let back into the club. I quickly grabbed that very arm and pressed my arm against it. This left a perfect mark on my arm allowing me to enter into the club without having to pay. Yes, in a way it is kind of like stealing, but that place made more than their share of money that night and I didn't feel like contributing.
Friday-Saturday 9/19-20
Best weekend so far. Hands down.
A group of fourteen of us went to Nachalat Yehudia.
We left from Holon about noon on Friday and caught a bus to the trainstation in Tel Aviv. From there we just barely caught the train to the north. We got off the train and Ithai's father and sister met us at the station, Ithai's father had done us the favor of going to the market and getting our food for the weekend. It ended up being pretty cheap and we each payed him 35 shekel ($10). Ithai's sister was on break for the weekend from her service in the army, so she was still in her uniform when we met her. Threeteen eighteen year-old boys meet an attractive Israeli woman in an army uniform. I'm sure you can imagine much of the conversation that weekend,
To get from the train station to the reservation Ithai had a really good hook up with an Arab cab driver. His name was Jackie and his fourteen passanger van was perfect for squeezing us in with all of our gear. The stereo in the van was also perfect for blasting Mizrachi and club music. It made the couple hours drive very interesting.
We arrived at the campsite a little later than planned. So for the remander of the day we had a campfire, eat some food, and just had general male bonding time. We met a group of brits who were there in Israel for a couple of weeks. We talked to them for a while and when their ride didn't show up on time we scraped together some food for them. That night we slept under these giant tent structures set up by the reservation. The moon that night was a gaint orange wonder. I stared at it for a good half hour.
We woke up bright and early and packed up camp. We started to eat our cereal......cereal? What happened to the cereal?! Some how it went missing. A large group camping next to us had plenty of left over food and offered it to us. Very nice of them.
Now the best part, the hike. It was purely amazing. It's not a very long hike, but it took us all day because we messed around at every avaliable point. I think I will stop writing, and let the pictures speak for themselves.
For more pictures check out the online album.(WARNING! Many many shirtless men in the nature! Do not enjoy too much.)
Sunday 9/21
I went to volunteering and spent of the rest of the day relaxing. That night we went to a bowling alley. On the way back we saw a bakery with its fresh bread cooling. They offered it to us for 2 shekel a small loaf. SO CHEAP! and it was amazing fresh bread.
Monday 9/22
This day was a little crazy. Masa, an organization that provides many resources to programs like Year Course, had its delegation visit our program. I was chosen to represent the Young Judaeans of the program. My friend Oliver represented FZY, Tamara represented the Tzofim, and Shira represented the speciatly arts track. I had to leave volunteering early so I could meet everyone. We spent about an hour talking about our program. Then I went with the whole group to visit a few different sites where people in our section volunteer. Afterwards a few members of the delegation came to my apartment and feed us pizza while talking to us about our different backgrounds and experiances we are having in Israel.
Once the delgation left my roommates and I had about thirty seconds to grab our stuff and catch the bus to Ulpan. Following ulpan I stayed for my first class of service learning. Its a college class where we spend the first half talking about volunteering, the problems we encounter with it, and the rewards we are seeing. The second half of the class we talk philosophy. This weeks topic was a quote by Plato something like "Is what the gods do good because they are gods, or is good already defined and they are mearly following it." The debate was not what the instructer had planned. It turned into this whole battle about the torah being the word of G-d or not. I wished some of the other kids in the class would have been a little more open minded. Because of the class I missed my apartment check with Yaara, but it was ok cause I was in a class.
I didn't do anything that night. I was way too exhausted from the whole day.
Tuesday 9/23 SIYUR DAY!
This weeks Siyur was at Mizpeh Nisoa. A short hike of about 3 kilometers. At the end was a system of caves carved out around the time of the second temple. They were used as hideout shelters against the roman army. Very cool and very fun.
The night Masa had it opening event for us in Bat Yam. They talked to the whole group of participants about what Masa is and why it was established.
I was one of about twenty five people who stayed afterwards to see Tal Brody. I honestly didn't know too much about him before he talked to us. It was a once in a lifetime experiance. Brody was your regular All American high school basketball player from New Jersey and attended University of Illinois. After a crazy chain of events that makes for a great story, Brody became the captain of Macabi Tel Aviv and lead them, and the rest of the country, to Israel's first European Basketball championship.
I walked back to Holon from Bat Yam with a few people. We went to the square and hung out for a couple of hours. I left early to get some sleep. I had been feeling a little under the weather.
Wednesday 9/25
Today was pretty good day. I woke up feeling not the best. I made it through volunteering. From there I went to a lunch and learn. I was a good twenty minutes late because the bus didn't come for a significant amount of time, but there was still pizza left for me. I ended up eating five pieces even though I get fed quite a bit at my volunteering. Enough about the food, more about the learning. The speaker was Michael Freeman. He is some big wig in FZY. I'm not sure of his title because I missed hearing it. Michael spoke about many subjects. The first, and largest, was the workings of the Israeli goverment and the current situation. I will try and explain.
Basically:
-The Knesset (Israeli Parilment) consist of 116 seats
-Each political party is given so many seats depending on the size of the party
-When enough parties join together to form a clear majority, only then can a goverment function and begin process. For this reason, small parties have a large about of power. There is a perfect example of this going on currently. The Kadima party only has 29 seats (I hope my information is correct, I am doing this all from memory) in order to form a clear majority Kadima will try to convince other parties to join them. This means that when smaller parties want to join they will make demands, and the larger parties will meet them so that they can acquire enought seats.
The topic of how the working of the Knesst brought Michael to his next topic. Currently the leader of the Likud party(another large political party), Benjamin Netanyahu, made a very very bold statement regarding Israel's greatest threat: Iran, in particular the president of Iran, the wonderful Mahomoud Ahmadinejad (look he has a blog! Maybe we can be blog buddies! Although I doubt he really writes this crap.) Netanyahu said this: "Hitler went out on global campaign first, and then tried to get nuclear weapons. Iran is trying to get nuclear arms first - therefore it is much more dangerous"
If you were unaware, Mr. Ahmadinejad has said several times that he plans on wiping Israel of the map. He also has said that Holocast never happned.
Iran will have nuclear weapons avaliable in a year to a year and half.
Michael put forth a charge to all of us: DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Israel is our home for the next year, and for many of us will always be home. There is no way we can let a 21st century Hitler happen. We said "Never Again" let's say it like we mean it. Matter of fact, don't just say it: live it.
Netanyahu has also suggested that Israel form an emergency unity goverment. This is for a different reason than Iran, this is because of Hamas. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. Right now, until November or so, there is a calm between Hamas and the IDF. Meaning that the IDF is not pushing into the stip and Hamas is not firing rockets. We all know that Hamas is just using this time to resupply and grow stornger. Netanyahu wants to set up this goverment so that when November comes around and tensions flare we will be prepared. I happen to agree with him.
Michael finished the talk lecture saying that we should really enjoy and take in the next couple weeks as we enter the holidays of Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. They are celebrated so much differently in Israel. Look for future posts on that.
After the really intense lecture, and scrouging all the pizza I could, I came back to the apartment and slept for a good three hours. Much needed. I felt 100% better. Yali came over to our aparment to cook something for the Tzofim dinner that night. I made a dinner for me and Aaron consisting of potatos and some jungle animal shaped shnizle. Gotta love sales and living on a budget! After dinner I met with my friend Daniella and we had some ice cream. It turned out to be a very long and intresting conversation covering all kinds of subjects.
In the next week....
This weekend I am just hanging out in Holon. I really feel like just relaxing and hanging around. Maybe go to the beach. I really want to go find a cheap bike. I miss my bike the most of anything at home. I hope you are treating her well Andrew. Make sure to lube the chain, she needs it every 30-40 miles.
Next post I won't wait for it to pile up on me like this. I apologize for making it so long, but I really do want to keep you all updated on what is going on here in the wonderful land of the Israel. Please don't be shy about leaving comments or writing me emails. I really enjoy reading them. thesiegeld@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment